Switch for electric railways.



PATENTED JUNE 27, 1905. c. voss.

SWITCH FOR ELECTRIC RAILWAYS.

APPLICATION FILED APR.1,1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I. f

$513 fiattoiuu No. 793,479. PATENTED JUNE 27, 1905. G. VOSS.

SWITCH FOR ELECTRIC RAILWAYS.

APPLIOATION FILED APR.1,1905.

2 SHEETS-SHBET 2.

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5% W L wwm UNITED STATES Patented June 27, 1905.

CARL VOSS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SWITCH FOR ELECTRIC RAILWAYS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 793,479, dated June 27, 1905.

Application filed April 1, 1905. Serial No. 253,326.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CARL VOSs, a citizen of the United States, residing in New York, borough of Manhattan, in the State of New York. have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Switches for Electric Railways, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved switch for electric and other railways which is so arranged that by foot-levers actuated by the motorman on the car-platform the switchtongue may be operated at the proper time, so that the car can pass either in straightdirection or to a side track, as required, without requiring a special attendant at the switch or the stopping of the car for setting the switch-tongue into the proper position; and for this purpose the invention consists of aswitch for electric railways, which comprises foot-operated levers arranged on the car-platform, pivoted and spring actuated setting shoes or blocks arranged in suitable casings at the under side of the car-platform for engaging and setting the switch-tongue, and intermediate lever connections between the footoperated levers and the spring-actuated shoes or blocks, two of said setting-blocks being arranged at each side of the car vertically above each track-rail and tapered laterally at their lower ends, so as to either engage or clear the switch-tongue according as the switch-tongue is to be adjusted for one track or the other.

The invention consists, further, of certain details of construction and combinations of parts, which will be fully described hereinafter and finally pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a side elevation, partly in section,

, on line 1 1, Fig. 2, of my improved mechanism for operating switches. Fig. 2 is a plan view, partly in section, through the parts below the platform, showing the lever mechanism for operating the switch-tongue-setting blocks or shoes. Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section on line 3 3, Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a plan view of the main and branch tracks, showing the arrangeinent of the switch-tongues and location of the setting-blocks for shifting the same. Fig. 5 is a horizontal section, through the casing of the is a detail vertical transverse section on line 6 6, Fig. 4, drawn on a larger scale.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

Referring to the drawings, A represents the platform of an electric or other railway car. At the front end of the platform, adjacent to the dashboard of the same, are arranged three foot-levers B B B the foot-lever B being shorter and arranged at the middle of the platform and curved so as to give agood rest for the, foot, while the side levers B B are made longer and extended toward the sides of the platforms. The middle foot-lever B is pivoted to the upper ends of two vertical pusher-rods b 6, while the side levers B B are each pivoted at their outer ends to pusherrods Z) 6 which are guided in sleeves OZ that are inserted into holes of the platform and attached to the same. In the lower parts of the sleeves (1* are guided auxiliary pusher-rods a c e 0 which are pivotally connected at their lower ends with the lower arms of elbow-levers a, which are fulcrumed to a transverse pivot-shaft o supported in hanger-brackets 0 that are attached to the under side of the car-platform, as shown clearly in Fig. 1. One of the side foot-levers, as B, is pivotally connected with one of the pusher-rods 7) of the middle foot-lever B, while the other side foot-lever B is connected with the second pusher-rod of the middle foot-lever B, so that on depressing either one of the levers two pusher-rods are depressed, one outer and one inner, according to the connection of the foot-levers and pusher-rods, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The upper arms of two adjacent elbow-levers e are connected by pivot-rods f with two pairs ofspring-actuated levers D, which are piving D and two levers D are arranged at each side of the platform vertically above the trackrails. The lower ends of the levers D are formed in the shape of blocks or shoes d cl, which are arranged, like the levers, one behind the other and at the same distance from each other as the offset formed in the sup porting-casings D. The face of one pair of blocks or shoes is inclined in one direction, while the face of the adjacent pair of shoes is inclined in the opposite direction, as shown in Fig. 2. When either one of the foot-levers is depressed, the corresponding pair of setting shoes or blocks d, connected with the foot-lever, one setting shoe or block at each side of the track, is moved against the tension of the springs, acting on its lever in forward and downward direction, so as to move close to the track-rails and enter at the proper time into the enlarged recesses t of the switchrails around the front ends of the switchtongues T, as shown in Fig. 4, so as to'engage that switch-tongue which is required to be shifted according to the direction of motion of the car and shift the same to one side or the other. If the right-hand switch-tongue is to be shifted, the right-hand foot-lever B is depressed, so that the right-hand setting shoe or block cl engages theswitch-tongue and shifts the same over toward the right, whereby the car is compelled to move on the right-hand branch track, while when the car is to go over on the left-hand track the left-hand foot-lever B is depressed and the left hand switchtongue-moved over, while the right hand switch-tongue is set by the shoe on the-oppo site side into proper position, so that the car is moved over on the left-hand branch track. When the car is to be movedstraight ahead,

' the central foot-lever Bis operated, and thereby the lower ends of the inner setting-shoes at both sides of the track depressed, so that both switch-tongues are moved sidewise for clearing the middle track and permitting the car to go straight ahead. In this manner by the other side or straight ahead.

mit the gradual descending and ascending motion of the setting-blocks in entering or leaving the depressions. Theseinclined portions produce the reliable action of the blocks on the switch-tongues without jars or concussions. As soon as the pressure on the footlevers is released the shifting-blocks are returned by the pressure of the springs d on their levers into normally raised position, as shown in Fig. 1, so that the blocks are supported at some distance above the track without interfering with the motion of the car over the same.

The switch-operating mechanisms can be readily attached to the under side of the platform of any car, while the guide-sleeves for the pusher-rods are set into holes bored into the car-platform, so that the foot-levers can be readily applied to the upper ends of the same independently of the mechanism supported below the platform.

The motorman can be readily instructed how to properly operate the switch-operating blocks or shoes by depressing the central right or left hand lever with his foot, so as to cause the lowering of the proper switch-setting blocks according as the caris to go on straight ahead or on to the left or right hand branch track. When the car arrives at the end of the line, the foot-levers and pusher-rods piv' oted thereto are removed from one end of the car and transferred to and placed into position at the opposite end of the car, so as to be used for actuatingthe setting-blocks below the opposite platform in the same manner as herein described.

Having thus described my invention, I-claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. In a railway-switch, the combination, with central and side foot-levers arranged on the car-platform, of pusher-rods connected with said levers, switch-setting levers arranged in pairs one at each side of said platform, and intermediate lever mechanism connecting said pusher-rods with-said switch-setting levers.

2. In a switch for electric railways, the combination, with'central and side foot-levers arranged on the platform, of pusher-rods connected with said foot-levers, switch-setting levers arranged in pairs one at each side of the platform above the track, casings provided with offsets for said shifting-levers, setting blocks or shoes at the lower ends of said levers, the shoes ofeach pair of levers being provided with faces having inclinations in opposite direction to each other, and intermediate lever mechanisms connecting the pusher-rods with the lower ends of the switch-setting levers so as to produce the actuation of a shifting-block or shoe at each side by the central left-hand or right-hand foot-levers ascending, as the switch-tongue is to be shifted for the main or either branch tracks is to'be placed in proper position.

3. In a switch for electric railways the com-- bination with a central left-hand and righthand foot-lever arranged on the platform, and pusher-rods pivoted to said footlevers, of sleeves in said platform for guiding the pusherrods, auxiliary pusher-rods below the pusherrods on the foot-levers, inclined and stepshaped casings attached to the under side of the platform one on each side of the same, spring-actuated levers provided in said casings and pivoted with setting blocks or shoes at their lower ends, each pair of shoes'at the same side' of the platform having faces inclined in opposite direction, and intermediate 'lever mechanisms between theauxiliary pusher-rods and the lower ends of the switchmy invention I have signed my name in pressettlng levers for lowering the setting-blocks ence of two subscrlhing Witnesses.

and shifting the switch-tongues for moving the 1 car into the main or side track according as (JARL 5 the central or other side foot-lever is de- Witnesses:

pressed. PAUL GOEPEL,

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as HENRY J. SUHRBIER. 

